


Hasenfurzchen

by IJM



Category: General Hospital (TV 1963)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29185332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IJM/pseuds/IJM
Summary: An awkward dinner party.
Relationships: Franco Baldwin/Elizabeth Baldwin, Scotty Baldwin/Liesl Obrecht
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Hasenfurzchen

Franco Baldwin balanced two grocery bags while his stepson Aiden rang the doorbell to Scotty Baldwin’s apartment. Liesl Obrecht opened the door to Franco, his wife Elizabeth, and their three boys.

“Come in,” Liesl said, welcoming them.

Liesl and Elizabeth, whose relationship had once been hostile, exchanged air kisses in a friendly greeting. Elizabeth came to appreciate Liesl when she was instrumental in curing Franco’s most recent brain tumor. Liesl softened toward Elizabeth thanks to their mutual devotion to Franco, as the best friend and the wife.

Months prior, Liesl had moved in with Scotty while simultaneously hiding from her enemies and working to cure Franco. She stayed long after Franco was given a clean bill of health because she and Scotty had developed real feeling for one another. It was proximity that had made their hearts grow fonder.

“Let me take your coats,” Scotty offered, setting down his glass of wine.

“Take the groceries,” Franco said.

“You didn’t have to bring your own ingredients,” Scotty admonished his son. “I have a working kitchen now.” That was Liesl’s influence. Left to his own devices, Scotty would have lived on take out. Since Liesl had been a guest in his home, she had turned his kitchen into a baker’s paradise. Visiting Grandpa Scotty became one of Aiden’s favorite pastimes since Liesl was teaching him to make various European pastries.

Scotty took one of the grocery bags and Franco followed him into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Elizabeth gathered all the coats and slipped into the guest room where she laid them on the bed. She paused when the doorbell rang again, wondering who it could be. Elizabeth might have grown tolerant, even fond of Liesl, but that fondness did not extent to Liesl’s daughter Britt Westbourne.

“Britta, my dear,” Liesl hugged her daughter. “I’m so glad you could join us tonight.”

“Hiya, Britt,” Scotty said.

“I trust you all can entertain yourselves while the boys and I make the _Somloi galuska_ ,” Liesl motioned for Britt to join Elizabeth and Franco.

Franco looked from his wife to his boss. “Sure,” he agreed.

“What is somny guska?” Jake asked, crinkling his nose at the funny sounding words.

“It’s sponge cake presented in divine culinary creations,” Liesl answered.

“Do I have to cook?” Cameron asked. Working at Kelly’s made spending time in the kitchen quite unappealing to the young man.

“No, of course not,” Elizabeth answered. “You can sit with your dad and me and talk with Scotty and Britt.”

Cameron sighed. That didn’t sound any more appealing than cooking. He would sit with them, but he would be texting Trina and scrolling through his social media accounts.

There was an awkward silence among Elizabeth, Franco, and Britt. Franco tried to break it, “So… Britt… how’s work?” There was an odd lilt to his voice.

“It’s good,” Britt answered. _Good?_ She repeated to herself, wishing she had been more eloquent. “Um, it’s a lot of work to be Chief of Staff, but I enjoy it. Nights like this are rare. I don’t get to socialize much.”

“Well, it’s a good thing Jason visits you at the hospital so often,” Elizabeth replied. If she liked Britt, she might warn her that a relationship with Jason was a stupid undertaking, but she rightfully figured that Britt wouldn’t listen to her anyway. And, besides, she couldn’t badmouth the man while Jake was present anyway.

“We’re just friends,” Britt offered for clarity. “I guess we can’t all be so lucky as to work on the same floor as our spouses.”

Scotty cleared his throat, conflicted. On the one hand, Elizabeth was like Scotty’s daughter and his inclination was to side with her. On the other, Britt was Liesl’s daughter, making her practically family too. He hoped the two women could get along. The sound got the two ladies’ attention and they called off the sniping war before it got heated.

“How’s your Christmas shopping coming along?” Franco asked, reaching for a neutral subject matter.

“You talking to me?” Scotty asked, taking a sip of scotch.

Franco gave him a look and shrugged slightly. Someone had to play nice.

“Well, I like to do my shopping last minute,” Scotty answered. “I do better with a specific list, by the way. Maybe you all could work on that for me.”

“I like cash,” Cameron surprised the adults by speaking. He grinned and then turned back to his phone.

“I too like cash,” Franco added with a laugh.

“I’m fond of diamonds myself,” Britt spoke up.

“Great,” Scotty grumbled. “Then gift cards all around it is.”

Elizabeth laughed.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Liesl, Jake, and Aiden were making strides with the desert preparation. The house smelled of roasted pheasants and numerous side dishes that Liesl had prepared earlier. Her dinner party with Scotty was all going according to plan so far.

The doorbell rang again, and Elizabeth volunteered to answer it. “You?” she said, seeing Maxie Jones on the other side with her three children. “What are you doing here?”

Maxie looked sheepish as she balanced Louise’s carrier. “Liesl invited us for dinner,” she said softly. “I didn’t know anyone else would be here.”

Elizabeth disliked Maxie even more than she disliked Britt, but she offered to take the baby while Maxie ushered her older children Georgie and James inside. She could sense that Maxie was overwhelmed. Elizabeth knew what it was like to try to tend to three small children as a single mother. It was little wonder that Maxie was dressed casually and disheveled despite her reputation as a fashionista. “And you wouldn’t have come if you had known it was Franco and me,” Elizabeth questioned, her tone biting.

“I didn’t say that,” Maxie replied as she stripped James and Georgie of their coats. “The truth is, I owe you and Franco an apology.” It took fortitude for her to admit it. She had been on a _mea culpa_ tour ever since her relationship with Peter August had imploded when his litany of crimes had been revealed. “Liesl was able to forgive me. I hope you two will as well.” She looked from Elizabeth to Franco. “Franco, I misjudged you and I know what it’s like to be misjudged. It hurts. I’m sorry. Elizabeth, I never should have spoken to you about your husband the way I have. You know him better than anyone else and it’s obvious that I’m not one who can stand in judgment of someone else’s relationships.”

“Peter had a lot of people snowed,” Franco shrugged. “It’s not like I ever gave you a reason to trust me. But thank you for the apology.”

“I just hope you realize Franco has changed,” Elizabeth told her.

“I can see that,” Maxie agreed.

Britt fussed over Maxie’s children, especially James, her brother Nathan’s child. She led James and Georgie to a corner of the living room where Liesl had stashed some toys to have around when the young grandchildren came to visit. Liesl took a quick break from the kitchen to give each child a kiss.

Louise provided a nice distraction from the awkwardness of the gathering. She was a sweet, beautiful baby with wispy blond hair and bright blue eyes. No one held it against her that her father was Peter. Maxie seemed relieved to have Britt entertaining James and Georgie and Elizabeth and Franco fussing over Louise. Maxie smiled at Scotty, but she sat quietly. She felt out of place, surrounded by people who all hated Peter for their own reasons. She questioned how she could have been such a fool over such a fundamentally evil man.

Maxie glanced at Elizabeth and Franco. There was a man whom many had judged to be evil, but he wasn’t. It really was a brain tumor that made him crazy years ago. She smiled, watching him coo over Louise.

“I need a baby girl just like you,” Elizabeth said in baby-talk to Louise. “Aren’t you beautiful?” she asked the baby. “Yes, I am,” she answered for Louise. “Say, ‘Yes, I am.’”

Liesl, Jake, and Aiden came out of the kitchen and announced that dessert was ready, so it was time for everyone to join them in the dining room. Maxie took Louise and Britt led both James and Georgie to a kiddie table where Aiden and Jake also sat after much grumbling.

Scotty, Liesl, and their guests politely passed dishes to one another while fixing their plates. Still, there was tension in the air despite everyone being on their best behavior. The clinking of forks against china was the only sound for a few minutes.

“Okay, either we start talking politely like adults, or I will pull out my lottery of conversation starters,” Liesl announced. “Everyone here is family to Scott and me. We want you to get along.”

“We’re getting along,” Franco contended. There had been no catfights, no bloodshed.

“You’re tolerating one another,” Scotty corrected him. “So, let’s just lay it all out there. What’s your issue with Britt?”

“Are you talking to me?” Franco asked.

“Yes.”

“She let Peter into my medical records which he published with his own spin and put a target on my family.”

“I had no idea he was going to do that,” Britt interrupted. “I never would have allowed that.”

“Only you did,” Elizabeth bit back at her.

“It was a mistake,” Britt said. “I’m really sorry. If it helps, your father sued my ass and won. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Sure,” Franco said. “So that’s your problem with Pops? He’s a good lawyer who made you pay for your lack of ethics?”

Britt shrugged. “I don’t have much of a problem with Scott. Yeah, it hurt to be sued. I thought I might lose my job, but it all worked out in the end. And, besides, what Peter did was wrong, and you deserved compensation for your distress and suffering.” She looked from Franco to Scotty. “The truth is, I like your dad. He’s good for my mom.”

“We’re practically siblings,” Franco said with just a hint of sarcasm.

“And what is this?” Liesl asked. “Everyone is angry with Maxie for having bad taste in men? I was in love with Faison for years. Who am I to judge this sweet girl?”

“No one is mad at Maxie,” Elizabeth said. “I mean, I was, because of how she’s spoken to me about Franco, but she apologized. I’m not judging anyone for falling for the wrong guy.”

“It’s just awkward,” Maxie suggested. “Franco and I have… history.” _History_ was a vague enough description of their relationship that it wouldn’t lead the kids to jump to any romantic conclusions. The Webber boys were aware that Franco had some kind of _history_ with most of the town. “But I see that he’s a changed man. I accept that. Elizabeth and I have history too. We’ve hurt each other.”

“Each other?” Elizabeth asked.

“Okay, I hurt Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth sighed. “That’s water under the bridge. I choose to believe that everything in my past brought me to my present and I’ve never been happier.”

“That’s how I choose to look at things too, Elizabeth,” Britt said directly to her. “We have history, sure. But you’re in a better place. I’m in a better place. Why are we still hostile to each other?”

“You cut my hours,” Elizabeth snapped.

“I cut your hours?” Britt repeated. “That wasn’t my decision, it came from above me. Besides you’re back on a full schedule now.”

“Still, you ought to have some compassion when you’re playing with people’s livelihoods.”

“Do you think it’s easy to be Chief of Staff? It’s not. I have to oversee every aspect of that hospital. “I kept the art program going, so it’s not like I gutted your family finances. The hospital was floundering financially. I either had to cut hours or cut staff. I made what I thought was the best compromise.”

Elizabeth sighed. She hadn’t considered Britt’s point of view, assuming that the cut to her hours was based on nothing but vindictiveness. “Maybe I was wrong,” she admitted.

“Elizabeth, I know you’re a forgiving person. If you could offer that to my daughter and daughter-in-law as you have for me, I would consider it a personal favor,” Liesl said.

“Of course, I can,” Elizabeth said after a miniscule moment of consideration. “I don’t like being at odds with anyone… not even Britt or Maxie.” She looked to both women, “Can we put our pasts behind us? Can we all put our pasts behind us?” She glanced at Franco and Britt and Maxie both nodded.

“Good, let’s all bury the past,” Scotty said, raising his glass to offer a toast. “To new beginnings.”

Glasses clinked and the adults drank to the promise of a new relationship dynamics.

“Well, then,” Scotty cleared his throat. “My kids and your kids have made peace. What should we do about that?” he asked Liesl.

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small box. He opened the box and pushed it toward Liesl. “What do you say we make this rag-tag bunch of misfits into one big happy family?”

Liesl couldn’t believe her eyes. Scotty was offering her a diamond ring… and a proposal? Was that it? He hadn’t exactly asked the question. “What are you saying?” she asked.

“I’m asking you, Liesl Obrecht, to make me the happiest man in the world and marry me.”

Liesl felt tears in her eyes. “Of course, I’ll marry you, you _hasenfurzchen_.”

“Aww, Daddy and Mummy are making it official,” Franco laughed. “Way to go, Pops.”

“Thanks to you, _Liebling_.” Liesl raised her glass to Franco.

“I guess something good came out of that stupid tumor,” Elizabeth took Franco’s hand. “Don’t you dare get sick again.”

“I promise,” Franco told her. “So… I guess we all have a wedding to plan.”

“But, first, dessert,” Liesl told them. She and Aiden presented their _Somloi galuska_ which was delicious. The dinner party turned out to be a smashing success after all.


End file.
